Vending machines are used to dispense a wide variety of products. In a cold product vending machine there is a desire to reduce the amount of air flow between the warmer air outside the machine and the cold air in the product storage chamber. Reducing the amount of warm air that enters the product storage chamber prevents repeated and temporary warming of the cold products inside and increases the overall efficiency of the vending machine by eliminating the additional cooling required to compensate for the additional warmth in the storage chamber.
Various methods have been used to help alleviate this problem but have suffered from either a lack of efficiency or from being overly complex. Many methods of preventing access to the storage chamber have been developed as an anti-theft or an anti-tampering feature. These methods typically have one door which swings shut as the door to the retrieval compartment is being opened. When the retrieval door is completely open, the other door is completely closed and prevents user access to the product storage chamber. While these methods due help to slightly reduce the amount of air exchange between the external environmental and the internal chamber once completely closed, they are more specifically design to prevent a hand or other object from being inserted into the chamber and they do not sufficiently reduce the air flow, especially in the interim. Attempts to modify these anti-theft mechanisms to make the doors more insulated and to provide an improved airtight seal are helpful but a large exchange of air takes place before the seal is made.
Attempts have also been made to create an electrical/mechanical door which seals off the housing chamber before allowing a user of the vending machine to remove the product from the retrieval compartment. While this method is efficient from an exchange of air perspective, it can be inconveniently slow. Additionally, it adds another level of complexity to the vending machine and requires additional electricity, control circuitry and system coordination to operate.
Thus, there is a need in a vending for an improved sealing vending drawer for removing products from a cold product vending machine which does not allow for a large exchange of air between the outside environment and the housing chamber used for storing the products to be vended.